Hello everyone! Monday is update day, and today is Monday, so you know what that means!

There was a sudden turn of events, and I found myself with barely any writing-time during the weekend. But I managed to write at every chance I got, and finally got this chapter done. So thanks for being patient, Bluewolfbat, here is the chapter based on your suggestion!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

Sleepover

Grade Three

May (8), Dawn (8), Gary (8), Ash (8), Misty (8), Drew (8)

Dawn excitedly bounced up and down as her friend May entered through the front door.

"May!" she exclaimed as she ran to her friend.

"Dawn!" May was equally excited. "Is everyone else here yet?"

"Yes, you were the last one. Come on, everyone's waiting in my room!" May hurried to Dawn's room, after saying good bye to her mother. She was soon greeted by Drew, Gary, Ash, and Misty. She frowned when she saw someone was missing.

"Where's Paul?" she asked. "I thought you said everyone was here."

"He called and said he wasn't coming." Dawn answered. She was secretly glad he wasn't, since he didn't look like the type of guy who liked to have fun, and she didn't want him to ruin today. Or tonight.

"This is going to be so much fun!" May squealed happily. "Being here with all of my best friends except for Paul!"

"And Leafy." Gary reminded her.

"Oh, yes. And Leaf." May quickly corrected herself.

"Who's Leaf?" Dawn asked curiously.

"She's another one of our best friends." Misty filled her in. "She doesn't go to our school, but she's Gary's next-door neighbour, so you'll probably meet her if you ever come by our neighbourhood."

"I love meeting new people!" Dawn temporarily got lost in thought at the idea of having a best friend whom she hadn't even met yet (they were in the same best friend group, so that automatically made them best friends, right?). "But right now, we're at my house, and we're gonna have a lot of fun. This sleepover is going to be great!"

Dawn had been planning this sleepover for a while, with full support from her mother, who thought it was a wonderful idea for her to get together with her new friends like this. Finally, it was the first Saturday of October, the day she had been waiting for for so long. Time for her long-awaited sleepover!

The six friends started off playing some boardgames, which eventually became a bit boring, so they invented their own way of playing them. This resulted in a chaotic mess (mostly because of Gary) with pieces from about three different games being all jumbled up, and then their game somehow ended up turning into an intense pillow-fight.

When Dawn's mother called them for their dinner, Dawn demanded that everyone clean up, and refused to let anyone exit her room until it was back to being the way it was before they had begun playing. Of course, this was no easy task, and it took a long while. Her friends made a mental note not to let their games go completely out of hand and result in a big mess when Dawn was present.

"Do you want to hear a story?" Gary asked, grinning mischievously. The five others, who were sitting at the table with him, looked at his curiously.

"What kind of story?" May asked.

"The best kind, of course! Ghost story!" Gary answered excitedly.

"I don't think those are the best kind." Drew said in a matter-of-fact tone. "There are lots of other kinds I like to read, and they're pretty good too."

"Are you saying you're too scared to hear it?" Gary taunted.

"Of course not!" Drew denied indignantly. "I was just saying! So let's hear it!"

"So, do you all want to hear it?" Gary gazed at all his friends. Misty looked as if she were saying "Bring it on!", while May appeared to be a bit wary and Dawn seemed intrigued.

"Is it really scary?" Ash asked through a mouth-full of the pizza they were having for dinner.

"Yes, Ashy-boy, ghost stories are supposed to be scary." Gary rolled his eyes. "Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Okay..." May said hesitantly, and the others murmured in agreement.

"Okay!" Gary started enthusiastically before make his voice spooky and mysterious. "So, it all happened on an October day. It was Friday the thirteenth, and everything was dark..."

The eight-year-olds listened intently to Gary's story. Their faces soon had looks of horror on them, as Gary filled them in on terrifying details, his voice getting lower as he neared the ending.

"And then..." he whispered as the others, barely breathing, soundlessly paid close attention to his every word, trying not to miss out on anything. "...the little boy heard a quiet whispering right behind him. He couldn't move, because he was too tired of running, and too afraid to turn around. But the voice was getting closer... and closer... and closer...

"And then, he felt an ice-cold hand on his shoulder. He tried to scream, but he couldn't, because it felt like another hand was holding him tight around his neck, choking him. And then he heard a voice in his ear: 'You're coming with me...'. Then, the ghost took him away with him, never to return again. No one knows what happened to the little boy, but people think the ghost took him back to his grave with him, for revenge for waking him up by touching his tomb."

Gary finished dramatically, and his eyes quickly darted around to catch his friends' expressions. They were all quiet and still for a moment.

"That was... spooky." May finally commented.

"I'm gonna have nightmares for days!" Ash said, shivering.

"It wasn't that scary." Misty tried to look tough.

"Y-yeah!" Dawn agreed, although she looked very pale.

Drew shuddered. "At least ghosts don't exist." he pointed out.

"Of course they don't exist!" Misty folded her arms. "There are ghost-type Pokemon, but they're not like the ghosts in Gary's story."

"Are you sure about that?" Gary smirked. "My grandpa says some other scientists study only ghost Pokemon, because there are some ghost Pokemon that might be able to take you to some weird place. I think he said it was the spirit world or something."

"L-let's just do something else!" Dawn quickly changed the topic. "After we're done eating, we can go to my room and play something."

The others nodded and silently completed their food, there minds still questioning the idea of the supernatural.

"What should we play?" May wondered later when the six friends were gathered in Dawn's room.

"How about tag?" Ash suggested.

Dawn shook her head. "No, my mom won't like all the noise, and we might knock stuff over. Plus, there isn't that much space to run in the hallways and rooms."

"Truth or dare!" Gary said quickly. Dawn looked like she was about to agree, but Ash beat her to it.

"No way! Gary will only make you do something you really don't want to, and he will ask really embarrassing questions for truth!"

"Dress-up!" Dawn exclaimed. "We can play dress-up! I have lots of different clothes and costumes, so we can pretend we're rich and fancy people!"

May nodded eagerly, and Drew didn't seem to have too much of a problem with it, but Ash, Gary and Misty refused, because they thought it was too girly. They sat thinking for a moment, until May jumped up as a brilliant suggestion popped into her head.

"I know!" she exclaimed. "Hide-and-seek! It's lots of fun, and it's not girly or rough or anything!"

Dawn looked a bit unsure, but everyone else seemed to think it was a great idea. Dawn stood up and faced all of her friends.

"Okay, we'll play hide-and-seek." she said. "But there are some rules. You're not allowed to go in any rooms that have closed doors, and you have to try not to mess anything up. Okay?"

The group agreed, and once they had a serious competition of rock-paper-scissors, they decided that Dawn was going to count. As she covered her face and began her count to forty, the others ran off to find a hiding place.

While searching for a place to hide, May discovered Drew seated behind a large pot of a green, leafy plant.

"Find another spot." Drew whispered to her, flipping his hair, proud of his hiding spot. "This one's taken." She nodded, and was about to tiptoe off, when she turned back to him and began giggling loudly.

"Ssh!" Drew hushed frantically. If Dawn heard her, she'd know where he was. "What are you laughing at?"

"She'll never find you here!" May managed to say through her giggles. "Your green hair blends in with the plants!" She had to cover her mouth with both hands to prevent herself from bursting out laughing.

Drew glared at her, but he knew Dawn would hear if he had an outburst, so he kept his cool.

"Just go away, June!" he whispered fiercely. May skipped away, but immediately sped up once she heard Dawn reach twenty.

Gary carefully observed his surroundings, trying to locate the perfect place to conceal himself. He prided himself in his clever hiding abilities, but the place he had wanted to hide, which was behind the large chest filled with dress-up clothes in Dawn's walk-in closet, had already been taken by Misty. And so, he continued his search, starting to panic a little as Dawn counted higher and higher.

He found himself in Dawn's room, where there were bedsheets spread out all over the floor, creating the area where they would sleep tonight. A pillow poking out from under the sheets gave him an idea.

He got under the sheet, and set some pillows around him so it looked like the bump he created by lying flat under the sheets was caused by the pillows. However, it wasn't really comfortable. He moved around, trying to adjust his position. Unfortunately, this kept making the sheet slip off him.

"Gary?" He heard Ash's voice. It looked like he had wandered there, searching for a hiding spot for himself.

"Ash! Help me fix this!" The urgency in Gary's voice convinced Ash to aid him without question, and soon Gary was completely concealed under the sheets and pillows.

"Good, now go away!" Gary ordered, his whisper coming out muffled. He didn't want Ash to stick around and give away his ingenious hideout.

"And forty! Ready or not, here I come!" Dawn's voice could be heard from the hallway. Ash froze in mid-step, and his eyes darted from place to place, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, where he could hide.

As Dawn's footsteps could be heard approaching the room, the black-haired boy panicked, and, without thinking, dove under the bedsheets with Gary. Gary held back a groan. Ash was going to give away his spot and ruin everything!

"Ash, go somewhere else!" Gary hissed as quietly possible. He closed his mouth immediately when he heard someone enter the room.

"I know you're in here!" Dawn sang as she looked around. Gary didn't dare move a muscle, and fortunately, neither did Ash. They waited, holding their breaths, until their friend's footsteps went out the door. The two boys relaxed somewhat, but they knew she'd be back later.

"Found you May!" Dawn's voice rang through the air a short while later as she uncovered her bandana-wearing friend hiding under the dining room table. After a few moments, it seemed she noticed Drew as well, and the three returned to her room.

"Let's check the closet." Drew suggested, and the closet door squeaked as they went in. There was a very brief silence, before Dawn yelled out that she saw Misty behind the chest of clothes. Gary felt a bit smug. If he had hid there instead of Misty, he would have been the one who was caught. He now felt glad she had taken that spot before him.

"Aw man!" Misty's voice could be heard. "So, was I the last one?"

"No, we're still looking for Ash and Gary." May answered.

"Where could they be? I already looked everywhere." Dawn wondered.

"Let's try downstairs one more time." Drew said, and the four left the room.

Gary felt like cheering. They were never going to find him! They would give up, and then he would triumphantly emerge from his spot. Sure, he was really starting feel cramped, but it was worth it!

Few minutes turned to half an hour before Dawn, Drew, May and Misty began calling out to them. "We give up! You can come out now!"

Gary grinned widely as he began standing up. But then he tripped.

"Come on, Ashy-boy!" he said irritatedly. "They're calling us!" Ash, who still hadn't gotten up, was holding down part of the bedsheets with him, preventing Gary from getting up properly.

"I can't! My foot's stuck!" Apparently, a corner of the sheet had twisted around his ankle, making it hard for him to come out from his hiding place. Gary scowled, but still tried to remove the sheet from Ash's foot, because if Ash couldn't get up, then Gary couldn't either.

They struggled under the sheets a bit, before Ash's foot was finally rescued. Then, putting on a victorious smirk, Gary began to lift the cover from his head. But there was one problem. He couldn't find the way out from underneath those bedsheets!

"Um, Gary? Can you help me out of here?" It appeared that Ash was trapped as well.

"No, 'cause I need get out of here first!" Gary failed once again to escape. The sheets had twisted around them in such a way that escape seemed impossible.

"What do we do now?" Ash questioned. "We can't stay like this forever!"

"Of course not!" Gary snapped, feeling that this was all somehow Ash's fault. "We just need to think a bit..."

"Maybe the others will help us out." Ash reasoned. "Let's go find them."

Gary was very reluctant to go with what Ash had said. It would ruin the whole effect! Instead of appearing impressive and triumphant, he'd just be humiliated. They others would probably laugh at him for getting stuck in his own hiding spot. But there didn't seem to be a better solution, so, begrudgingly, he set out with Ash to find the other four.

It was very difficult to see where they were heading, and they kept stumbling as the sheets got caught in their feet, and there always seemed to be something that got in their way. They bumped into a small table, causing the vase on top of it to come crashing to the floor.

Meanwhile, Dawn, Drew, May and Misty were wondering why the two boys hadn't showed up yet. They called a couple more times, before being interrupted by a loud crash.

May jumped at the sudden noise. "What was that?" she asked worriedly.

"No need to worry, it's probably nothing." Dawn tried to assure her, although she was a bit puzzled herself.

"It sounded like something falling." Drew figured.

"Those two better not be messing things up!" Dawn said angrily. "I made those rules for a reason!"

"Let's go see." Misty began making her way upstairs to where the sound had come from.

When she got upstairs, she saw a strange sight. There was something big and white making its way towards her, making odd, muffled sounds as it moved in a funny, lopsided manner. With Gary's story from earlier still being fresh in her mind, the first thought that came to her was...

"GHOST!" Misty's scream got Drew, Dawn and May scrambling to her side.

"G-g-g-ghost!" Dawn shrieked, pointing at the white creature.

"Let's get out of here!" Drew yelled, and they ran into the nearest room, which turned out being the bathroom.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Misty wondered anxiously, looking pale.

"I don't wanna go to the ghost's grave!" May whimpered.

The door creaked open, revealing the covered figure on the other side. To the four friends' horror, it began to enter the bathroom after them. May and Dawn screamed in fear, while Drew backed off, and Misty got ready to fight.

"Go away!" Dawn shrieked, throwing a toothbrush at it.

"Hey, that's my toothbrush!" Misty said, clearly annoyed.

"Misty?" A muffled voice was emitted from the ghost. May gasped loudly.

"It's got Ash!" she hollered. "We have to save him!"

"Give Ash back!" Drew yelled, his fear evaporating as he stepped forward.

"Get it!" Misty let out a battle cry as she launched herself onto the ghost, knocking it to the ground, and pushing it from the doorway into the hall. Drew joined her, helping her hold it down. The ghost let out yells of protest and fought back, kicking and struggling.

"May, Dawn, help me!" Misty called out, and the two girls joined them, trying to hold onto whatever part of the ghost they could snatch on to.

"Ouch, that's my HAIR!" the ghost yelled. The others paused. It had hair?

"Wait a minute..." Drew began tugging on the white sheets, and, with the others helping him, he soon uncovered two heads: Gary's and Ash's.

"Ash? Gary?" Misty said incredulously.

"Oww..." Gary moaned as he rubbed his hair. "What did you attack us for?"

"That hurt..." Ash tried to separate himself from the sheets.

"Kids?" The six friends looked up to see that Dawn's mother had arrived on the scene. "What are you doing? I was busy on the computer, but once I heard all of you yelling and screaming, I got here as fast as I could."

The six looked at their feet, feeling guilty for worrying Dawn's mother.

"We're just playing. Sorry for bothering you, Mrs. Berlitz." Drew apologized politely.

Dawn's mother smiled tiredly. "It's okay. It's great that you guys are having fun, but it's getting late. You guys should start getting ready for bed." The six kids nodded.

Johanna helped her daughter, Dawn, and her friends spread the bedsheets on the floor again, and make a comfortable sleeping area with the blankets and pillows. Soon, the lights were out, and six eight-year-olds were whispering amongst one another, none of them feeling sleepy.

This, they decided, was the best sleepover they had ever had.

Done! So how was it?

Just a little side note: this chapter was based on a suggestion by Bluewolfbat. So the sleepover and ghost-bedsheets idea was not mine (I don't want to take all the credit for that).

Okay, so I wanted to tell you guys that this month is going to be very busy for me, and that means I am going to have less writing time. I really like writing for this and updating for you guys, but unfortunately, I am going to have to change my update schedule to once a week. How about either Saturday or Sunday? I might still update more than once from time to time, depending on how many chapters I manage to complete, but my goal for now has become once a week. I'm sorry! I just thought I should let you guys know.

Please review, and thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)